Virtual Erasure: Ntozake Shange, Black Spaces, Wealth, and Children’s Biographies

Abstract

In “‘The White Space’”, sociologist Elijah Anderson notes that, despite some integration post- Brown v. Board of Education, certain public areas continue to be perceived as ‘white spaces’. Conversely, Black spaces, largely due to media portrayals, are identified as the ghetto. This article explores how Ntozake Shange’s children’s biographies combat such limited characterisations and teach lessons that oppose notions of Black spaces as ghettoes.